Hearing test

At what point can't you hear the sine wave?

  • 22 kHz

    Votes: 4 25.0%

  • 21 kHz

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • 20 kHz

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 19 kHz

    Votes: 5 31.3%

  • 18 kHz

    Votes: 2 12.5%

  • 17 kHz

    Votes: 4 25.0%

  • 16 kHz

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • 15 kHz

    Votes: 2 12.5%

  • 14 kHz

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 12 kHz

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • 10 kHz

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 8 kHz

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Total voters
    16
Yax

Yax

Ancient Mariner
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/

The average ear hears between 20 hz - 20 000 hz (edit: In its prime), and declines with age and stress on the ears. By 65 you'll won't hear much above 10 khz. Mine's out just below 18 khz, around say 17.5 kHz. I can hear some kind of undertone at 18 khz (which is weird, but obviously my brain interprets it at a much lower pitch) , but that doesn't count as it's much lwoer in pitch than the previous clip.

So, let's test your hearing!

Edit: oops, didn't mean to select the option of casting multiple votes.
 
I crapped out after 15. Proof that I'm old and have been listening to loud music for 30 years. :bigsmile:
My 13-year-old stopped after 20.

On a more serious note, how badly does this affect my enjoyment of music?
And does I mean investing in a great sound system would be a waste of my time?
 
Interestingly enough, I can hear 22kHz, but I can't hear 10kHz. :confused:

I'm not sure how that's possible, but I'm gonna go ahead and blame AT&T.
 
mckindog said:
I crapped out after 15. Proof that I'm old and have been listening to loud music for 30 years. :bigsmile:
My 13-year-old stopped after 20.

On a more serious note, how badly does this affect my enjoyment of music?
And does I mean investing in a great sound system would be a waste of my time?
Click to expand...
It doesn't affect it at all. At 15 khz you only have cymbals upper harmonics (and breath sounds and maybe a few other instruments top harmonics ). You don't really need anything above it - Besides, vinyl (if you dig it) craps out at atound 16 and even below if they're extensively worn.


Interesting, we're hitting all across the spectrum and Travis is off the chart. Edit: At the age of thirty seven!? Sheesh, how's that even possible?
 
Age 37. I hear it all, though I have doubts with the last one. Always had very sharp hearing. Let's try to find another (sort of) hearing test.

@mckindog: from now on I'll take your comments on sound quality / production less seriously. :)
 
Forostar said:
Age 37. I hear it all, though I have doubts with the last one. Always had very sharp hearing. Let's try to find another (sort of) hearing test.

@mckindog: from now on I'll take your comments on sound quality / production less seriously. :)
Click to expand...
As I said, there is very little useful information in the + 15 khz area - The ear however, has a tendency (I discussed the undertone I heard at 18 khz with a teacher earlier today and he told me the brain often adds undertones) to simulate undertones - It is argued, even undertones in the range you don't actually hear at all (I obviously have extremely little hearing in the 18 khz area, but enough for it to simulate a clearly audible undertone). The thesis then states that the ear hear these undertones in the inaudible range in conjunction with the rest and that it has a certain, although very limited, impact.

Now to something slightly different: The undertone phenomenon is also a reason as to why ultra high resolution files (say 192 khz @ 24 bit depth, which is becoming increasingly popular) actually leads to signal distortion upon playback. The nyqvists sampling theory dictates that you need at least twice the sampling rate as the highest frequency that is intended to be replicated- Hence the standard CD format 44.1 khz (range 20 Hz - 20 kHz). Now, a file with the sampling rate of 192 khz can reproduce frequencies up to 96 khz. This, is argued by others, causes problems upon playback:

This is because of the playback gear - First we have the digital to analog converter, which may not accurately convert these ultra high frequencies - Instead they are represented as undertones, which aren't actually there - It's a sort of distortion. This also corresponds to the speakers or headphones which don't even have a response capable of reproducing 96 khz frequencies. This leads to distortion when playing the so called ultra high resolution files.


Anyway, back on track. mcindog has perfectly reasonable hearing - You don't need to hear 22 kHz to judge the quality of a recording as it's extremely little information there - A great many recordings response tends to dip sharply at around 16 khz (and tape that you used to record onto doesn't really reproduce much above that. Too much distortion in that area).
However, it is to be said, that there can be quite unpleasant overtones above 15 khz, but that's not usually a problem. So we can say that you can more accurately decide on the ultra harmonic content of cymbals than most people - Which of course has its uses.


The Flash: Do you hear 18 khz as a simulated undertone like me or do you hear the actual sine wave?
 
I can't hear the 18 one. The question was at what point you can't hear, so :p

I can hear the sine wave cleanly at 17. Can't hear anything at 18.
 
Oh please, don't be ridiculolus. I'm saying you should not take mcindogs ears on how a production sounds to him more lightly aside from the top harmonic range. You have a very wide frequency response - You can hear up to the top of the cymbals range and they will therefore sound very different to someone who doesn't hear past 10 khz, as there is still a lot of information at 10 khz and on. However, I'm saying that 15 kHz is good enough for rock'nroll as the saying goes. I'm saying it does not mean that mcindog's hearing is crap and opinions null. His hearing is perfectly reasonable and the only thing affected in his enjoyment of music is the absolute top end of cymbals and similar things (this argument does of course exclude how flat his response his in relation to the Fletcher Munson curve, which is based on an avarage hearing. They did a listening test with a certain number of participants to come up with it- That's another matter). He will hear everything else.
 
And do you think mckindog might have more problems with distinguishing mp3 quality from CD quality or more difficulty with hearing the difference between various mp3 qualities ?
 
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